Good Place shows you can have a series finale that doesn't enrage fans *Spoilers

Television: Broadcast TV

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The testing process is purgatory. Reincarnation would be an alternative to oblivion.

It would result into other problems they would need to fix, for example, the Earth has finite room, so if everyone could just come back through reincarnation (on top of the standard new births) we would run out of space really fast.

Instead of death and nothingness being the thrill of the unknown that makes life in the Good Place meaningful,

The thrill isn't death and nothingness, it is not knowing what will happen. The door could lead to nothingness or it could possibly lead to reincarnation or something completely different.

In the end we see that going through the final door doesn't result into nothingness, it results in your essence being returned to Earth, where it becomes part of everything (the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from, and where it's supposed to be). Your essence will become part of new "waves", which could be seen as a form of reincarnation.

Or maybe the result of going through the door will be different for everyone, Eleanor could have had her essence return to Earth because that felt right to her after hearing Chidi talk about the ocean and waves. And someone like you, who feel that reincarnation is a better solution, will be reincarnated.

abandoning your old memories and trying life on Earth again and having to risk being put back in the testing process at a different moral place in your life sparks that same thrill while also not consigning you to eternal death.

Maybe if you regain your memories of your former live(s) when you get into the good place again. Otherwise I personally don't see the point in this as there is no risk to your current self, since that self will basically be erased.

It would result into other problems they would need to fix, for example, the Earth has finite room, so if everyone could just come back through reincarnation (on top of the standard new births) we would run out of space really fast.

That's assuming there aren't a finite number of humans ever being created. Since the afterlife timeline is cyclical, there must be some limitation on human creation or else the afterlives would run into the same problems (especially given the show's need to explain where everyone goes when the afterlife timeline gets back to its "beginning").

The thrill isn't death and nothingness, it is not knowing what will happen. The door could lead to nothingness or it could possibly lead to reincarnation or something completely different.

Everyone talks about the door as if they believe it will lead to nothingness. They invented the door specifically because of how death gives life on Earth meaning. No one believes it will result in reincarnation. They just believe that it will cause them to lose their essences and have that essence "return to the universe".

In the end we see that going through the final door doesn't result into nothingness, it results in your essence being returned to Earth, where it becomes part of everything (the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from, and where it's supposed to be). Your essence will become part of new "waves", which could be seen as a form of reincarnation.

It results in the oblivion of consciousness and self. And any essence that returns to Earth seems to have a very short-lived effect.

Or maybe the result of going through the door will be different for everyone, Eleanor could have had her essence return to Earth because that felt right to her after hearing Chidi talk about the ocean and waves. And someone like you, who feel that reincarnation is a better solution, will be reincarnated.

Reincarnation would be better than oblivion, but I don't believe it would be the best option period. It just seems like the most obvious alternate option that the show neglected to explore.

Maybe if you regain your memories of your former live(s) when you get into the good place again. Otherwise I personally don't see the point in this as there is no risk to your current self, since that self will basically be erased.

There would absolutely be the chance of getting into the Good Place again. And then you could enjoy what feel like newfound pleasures to you all over again. You would be able to enjoy the novelty of the Good Place instead of becoming bored by it. And once that boredom starts again, you can return to Earth, help shape the lives there, and hopefully return to the Good Place to experience "new" pleasures and rewards all over again.

I never quite got into the show as much as I would have liked. The humor was hit & miss, the characters were one note by design(for awhile anyway), and the plot really got away from them in the second and third seasons. I think shorter seasons and a shorter run overall would have made for a more concise story.

I still don't quite know what to make of the finale. A few laughs, a few touching moments, basically what I'd want from the end of a comedy. Yet at the same time, I couldn't help wondering why they didn't have "Don't Fear the Reaper" or "Suicide is Painless" playing at some point. Ya know, make a joke of it. That way I don't feel so weird about a guy telling the love of his afterlife that he's shuffling off his immortal coil.

Admittedly that was true at the beginning, but it was in part to make the ethical concepts easier to understand since they were the subject matter. And as the story went on we saw marked improvement without totally breaking the core characteristics that we were used to. The changes were subtle enough to be believable, but also enough that we could see character development & progress throughout the series.